Little Helpers

I had a challenging evening this week.  Too much to do and the day going by in a flash.  Study and homework for my Arabic course, visiting the new baby in the family, housework, and kids were enough to handle without one of the boys blocking the toilet and creating a whole lot more work for me.

There are so many things falling apart in the house at the moment.  Some are things which the kids have broken which don’t bother me that much, I just tell myself that that’s kids for you.  Others are ongoing maintenance work that needs to be done.  My husband was very busy in the last year and lots of things got left undone.  Now he is away doing dawah work until mid-March and there is a growing list of things to fix – broken tiles in the kitchen, one of the kitchen units is missing a door (a big thanks to Gorgeous for that one), the bulb in the little store room is not working, I tried changing the light bulb in my bedroom and managed to break the holder, I also managed to break the shower (thank God for the spare electric one which we haven't used for years).  All less than a morning’s work for hubby, if hubby were here.

I don’t think it looks as bad as it sounds; the house is neat if anyone comes around, but I notice it and it bothers me.  That evening it all got to me, especially the thought of having to pay a plumber to unblock the toilet if I don’t manage to fix it.  I felt really upset and fed up thinking no matter how much I do it doesn't seem to be enough.

I made dua to Allah (SWT) and asked for help (am I the only one that sometimes wishes I had the same power as Mary Poppins to just snap her fingers and let the room tidy itself up?).  I wondered what help would possibly come at that time of night and decided to just get enough and do what little I could.

I put the kids to bed and worked my way through the chores – dishes, packed lunches, hoover, straighten up downstairs.  In the meantime I could hear the kids out of bed and giggling.  I went up to see what they were up to and found that they had tidied upstairs.  Their room was tidy and their toys had disappeared (they actually dumped all of their toys in their grandmothers room and shut the door with the intention of sorting them out later.  At least they tried I suppose).  They change the baby into her night clothes and , tidied up my room, put away my books and left some sweets on my bedside table.

I felt so humbled.  I couldn't imagined where help would come from and Allah (SWT) made my little ones a medium of help and comfort when I felt sad.  Now I am going to have to think of a treat to reward then insh’Allah.